A well-illustrated fantasy tale about following one’s dreams.
In Leya and Saylor’s illustrated children’s book, a young tinkerer helps out the Tooth Fairy.
As a boy named Gabriel gets ready for bed, he counts the stars. While falling asleep, he likes to think about traveling to outer space and working in his makerspace—a workspace where he builds rockets. Building and tinkering is what Gabriel enjoys most in the world, and his teacher, Ms. Birnbry, encourages him to use his “unique mind”to explore new corners of the galaxy. When he loses a baby tooth, his mom reminds him to put it under his pillow for the Tooth Fairy. Later, Gabriel is suddenly woken by the sound of a sputtering engine: The Tooth Fairy has arrived, and her tiny jetpack is having engine trouble. Enchanted by Gabriel’s bedroom makerspace, she asks for his help with repairs. He’s easily able to fix the fairy’s jetpack and is rewarded for his kindness when the Tooth Fairy shrinks him down to her small size, and they fly to Tooth Fairy Land where there’s a parade every day and a massive orchard of coins in the center of town. Gabriel learns that lost teeth become the stars in Tooth Fairy Land’s sky. He returns home and later awakens to find a note from the Tooth Fairy and some gold coins. Leya and Saylor present a story that effectively encourages readers to follow their passions and help others; the protagonist’s mother and new Tooth Fairy friend both support his skills and dreams; the latter, in a letter, tells him, “May you always shine brightly and continue to dream big.” Sulima’s full-color illustrations are drawn very realistically, and the character images have an angelic quality, reminiscent of Precious Moments figurines. The backgrounds on each page are comprehensive and detailed and will pull readers into the story with their nighttime color palettes of muted greens and blues with occasional orange and purple.
A well-illustrated fantasy tale about following one’s dreams.Pub Date: Feb. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9798986947396
Page Count: 28
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...
Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.
The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.
While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 21, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children.
Interior decorator and TV personality Gaines invites readers to open their eyes and exercise their imaginations.
There’s a world to be explored out there—and only children can really take part. What does “looking for wonder” entail? Slowing down and looking up, around, and everywhere. At the outset, a group of eager, racially diverse young friends—including one who uses a wheelchair—are fully prepared for a grand adventure. They offer tips about how and where to look: Why, there’s a “grand parade” of marching ants! And, these kids add, perspective is key. A rainy day might signal gloom to some, but to those filled with wonder, showers bring “magic puddles for play”; a forest is “an enchanted world,” the ocean conceals “a spectacular city,” and the night sky boasts “extraordinary sights.” The takeaway: “Wonder is never in short supply.” It’s a robust, empowering message, as is the exhortation to “keep your mind open, and let curiosity guide the way.” Youngsters are also advised to share their discoveries. The upbeat narrative is delivered in clunky verse, but the colorful cartoonish illustrations brimming with activity and good cheer (including some adorable anthropomorphized animals in the backgrounds) make up for the textual lapses and should motivate readers to embark on their own “wonder explorations.”
Handy advice for perpetually inquisitive children. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781400247417
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tommy Nelson
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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